Like this:

I often wonder what it must be like to not love art… to not love creating. I can’t even imagine it. People seem to think i am part yoga hippie,part crazy cat lady, and part health nut. I have no idea why people think I’m a health nut. I had a raspberry danish, two cups of coffee, a glass of root beer, and a large handful of m&ms today. The other descriptions are pretty accurate i would say. A day of fun for me would be a few hours at the flea market, another few hours painting in my studio, and another hour or two doing yoga and belly dance.

I was thrilled to spend a few hours in my studio this weekend. As I worked on a couple of paintings, I found myself asking, “Why do I love art so much? Why do i long to spend all the hours of daylight in my studio, sketching, gluing, painting…

I haven’t figured out exactly how to answer that question. But i decided (for once) I would not judge every stroke, and second guess every color choice, and worry if my paintings would be good enough, or if they would have anything worthwhile to say… I would instead simply enjoy each stroke, and notice the juxtaposition of colors and shapes. I would just get lost in my paint and let my brushes speak what is in my heart.

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These are some close-ups of the series i’m working on for my living room. I love the way paint and canvas unite to make the most interesting patterns and textures from the close-up perspective. More to come i hope. Happy Monday!

The more I blog, the more I get away from the reasons I thought i wanted to publish a blog. My first attempt, Dancing Rapunzel, was pretty much started because I had some time to kill when chemo was kicking my ass. I thought I should take advantage of my down time & learn something productive. Blogging was a perfect way for me to keep busy and think creatively… from the couch. I started writing with all intentions that it would motivate me to finish my art projects and that it would help me gain some confidence putting my art “out there”. I posted just a few leather pieces and unfinished paintings here and there. I soon discovered the unexpected extent of therapeutic value. Overall, I continued hoping it would help me grow artistically, creatively, emotionally… regardless, I was supposed to be posting some art! After DR got hijacked, i had all but hung up my blogging hat (yes i actually have one), and suddenly I had a spark of energy to start over again with Sky Blue. I thought that blogging again would help me put my creations out there in an anonymous world without too much discomfort. As I continue my blog-therapy, I have been reminded how much I also love to write and take photos. Since I can give you every excuse in the book why you haven’t seen much of my “art”, there will probably be a lot more words and amateur photography…at least for now.I am working on my goal setting, and 7 Habits, blah blah blah for 2012, so my plan is to post some art this year! I did a little painting this weekend, and that made me happy happy happy! It’s hard to pick a painting to work on when i have so many in progress, and so few hours of daylight. But I am trying to just focus on one at a time. I’m working on a series of 3 paintings for my big blank brown living room wall – I wanted to do something insanely colorful and bold. They were inspired by a blog post I saw about the Neon Bone-yard which I am completely obsessed with… I am dying to see that place if I ever get to Vegas so I can take my own photos, but for now I must paint from other people’s photos.I hope I can share some paintings and sketches – finished or unfinished – in the near future. Until then, here are some more (sorry) cat photos. My subject here is Olive on a sunny morning…